Independence Rock, The Register of the Desert

At least one catastrophe happened while at the rock. In 1842, a party stopped there specifically to sign their names and were attacked by a party of Sioux Indians. The Indians stole most of their clothing and detained them several hours before letting the settlers rejoin the rest of the wagon train.

When the first transcontinental telegraph line was completed in October, 1861, putting the Pony Express out of businesses, it passed right by Independence Rock.

On July 4, 1862, a meeting was held on the rock, which became the opening of the first Masonic lodge in that part of the Rockies. Years later the Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of Casper and Wyoming placed a bronze plaque on the side of the rock on July 4, 1920, to commemorate the event as the beginning of their lodge.

In 1870 the first accurate measures were taken by a Dr. F. V. Hayden. He measured the circumference by odometer to be 1,552 yards. He used a barometer to measure the height of the northern end as 193 feet and the southern end as 167 feet. There was a depression in the middle about 60 feet high. The general orientation of the rock was northeast by southwest. He believed the rock to be composed of feldspar and granite. A later geologist, Charles J. Hares, stated that he believed the rock to have been carved during the last ice age by glaciers.

There were three outstanding natural monuments on the way to Oregon: Chimney Rock, near Scotts Bluff, Nebraska; Red Buttes, southwest of Casper, Wyoming; and Independence Rock. It was about 830 miles from Independence, Missouri to Independence Rock, two fifths of the way to Fort Vancouver in Oregon.

For Independence Day in 1930, there was a grand celebration at Independence Rock on July 3, 4, and 5, to celebrate the start of the first wagon train going west in 1830. The celebration was known as the Covered Wagon Centennial. The Boy Scouts of America also held their National Boy Scout Rendezvous at the rock that year. By a proclamation from President Herbert Hoover earlier in that year, he called upon the people of America to “employ this fitting occasion to commemorate the lives and deeds of the heroic pioneers who won and held the west.” And they did. By the thousands.

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